Quantity selecting machine for segregating dry granular material



A. G. STEVENS ET AL QUANTITY SELECTING MACHINE FOR SEGREGATING A ril 10, 1951 DRY GRANULAR MATERIAL Filed March 9, 1945 FIG. 2

Patented Apr. 10, 1951 QUANTITY SELECTING MACHINE FOR SEG- REGATING DRY GRANULAR MATERIAL Allan George Stevens and Ada Emily Stevens, EastBarnet, England Application March 9, 1945, Serial No. 581,822 In Great Britain March 8, 1944 Section 1, Public Law 690, August 8, 1946 Patent expires March 8, 1964 2 Claims.

The invention relates to devices for the quantitive dispersion of granular material such as seeds of the type in which a grooved wheel having a plurality of pockets arranged along the bottom of the groove is rotatably mounted so that part of the periphery projects within a supply hopper.

An object of the present invention is to pro- Vide a device, by which granular material such as seeds may be dispersed in a predetermined amount at predetermined. intervals without the seeds being cracked or in any way damaged for germination. A further object of the invention is to improve the state of the art.

According to the present invention means are provided in combination with a grooved wheel having a pluralit of peripherally disposed pockets therein whereby the quantity of granular material entering any one pocket is controlled and from which pocket the said predetermined quantity of granular material is precipitated solely under the action of gravity.

One form of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, Figure 1, which shows a side view of the entire machine with all component parts in working position, but with the housing cover removed.

Figure 2 shows a cross section of the machine in its housing, viewed from above, with the top part of the housing cut away. This discloses a r,

plan view of the wiper bar and guide block in position on the wheel, with the axle passing through the housing.

Figure 3 shows an illustration of the end of the wiper bar as it rests in the wheel groove.

The vertically rotatable wheel 4 has around its periphery a groove which is shown as V- shaped. The sides of this groove may be other than flat, such as curved and the like, but theyv meet at the lowest point of th groove and direct material to be separated to that point.

Pockets or indentations 5, are fashioned at the bottom of the groove, extending in depth still further in the direction of the wheels axis,

with the top level of each pocket or indentation at the lowest point of the wheel groove, with pie-determined spaces between each pocket. They are each of a shape and size which, when full, approximates the volume and contour of the average sized grain being segregated, with sufficient slackness to allow easy access and emission of the contents, but not so much in excess of actual size and shape as shall allow any other grain to be contained in the pocket in excess of the number prescribed. The same rule be- 2 ing applied for pockets designed to hold'more than one grain.

A guide block 6, the same thickness as the wheel, is affixed to wall I of the housing. It assists in directing unseparated grains into the wheel groove and extends downwards into the shape of this groove for part of the wheels circumference, suificient to ensure that empty pool ets, rising as the wheel is rotated, are kept closed until they contact the unseparated grain, thus prevent ngthis unseparated material from being precipitated at this side of the machine through open pockets, instead ofpassing through the pockets correctly as the wheel is rotated in a clockwise direction.

The space between walls 8 and 9 is filled by the wheel 5, the block 6, and the wiper bar Ill. The wiper bar, while resting in the wheel groove, being held there by spring tension and pivoted between walls 8 and 9, projects from wall H to a position over the wheel, thus the top part of the housing, which holds the bulk material, is partitioned off from. the bottom part, access to the latter being only obtained by such grains as correctly pass to it by way of the pockets.

In Figure 3 the end of the wiper bar which rests in the groove is shown in that position at an angle. The sides of the said wiper bar which are in contact with the groove are tapered complementary to the said groove such that the end of the wiper bar is adapted to ride freely in the groove lightly maintaining contact therewith. The extreme tip or nose of the wiper bar is fabricated of either rigid or resilient material as the fragility of the grain being handled demand. The angle of inclination of the tapered sides of the wiper bar is such that between the tip of the nose and the lowest point of the wheel roove, there is a space slightly less than the height of the minimum sized grain among those being separated, this being measured a the grain'may normally lie in the groove. This fashionin of the nose imparts a gradual rolling motion to excess seed thereby ejecting them from the pocket by a glancing blow.

The whole machine is enclosed in a housing formed by walls I, 8, 9, H, and M. Wall l4 forms the upper closure of the housing forming a chamber enclosing the wiper bar fitting into the groove in the wheel, the wiper bar acting to cover filled pockets to prevent entry of additional material. This pocket closure section of wall H may be entirely of rigid material or partly of resilient material as the nature of the grains demand in order to prevent maximum 3 sized grains which are correctly placed in the pockets from being damaged in course of the rotation of the wheel.

The bulk material being admitted to the housing through an inlet 19 is transformed by the wheel groove from an otherwise broad bottom layer of grains into a single line lying at the bottom of the groove. The rotation of the wheel causes the grains to gravitate into their specially designed pockets as these pass, the wiper bar, while riding over filled pockets, by virtue of the shape and resilience of the nose construction, excludes superfluous grains above that number predetermined for each pocket.

Rotation of the wheel is secured by an axle I'I passing through the housing and wheel,

It will be apparent that by means of the invention damage to the seeds resulting in a significant reduction in germination is substantially avoided by the means adopted to direct the seeds into the pockets. The elimination of any means for forcibly ejecting the seeds from their respective pockets at the end of their passage through the machine results in a greatly improved germination.

We are aware that prior to our invention, quantity selecting machines for segregatin dry granular material have been made, using rotating pockets. We therefore do not claim such a principle broadly; but we claim:

1. A device for the quantitative dispersion of seeds comprising in combination a hopper; a

peripherally V-shaped grooved wheel having a plurality of pockets arranged at spaced intervals along the bottom of the groove rotatably supported upon a spindle and disposed wholly within said hopper; a guide block of the same width as the grooved wheel and complementary thereto disposed between the side of the hopper and the aid grooved wheel; a wiper bar of the same width as the grooved wheel and having a tapered end of which the nose is made from resilient material complementary to the groove and disposed tangentially to and ridin freely in said groove; spring means with which to keep the tapered end of the wiper bar in contact with the grooved Wheel and a pocket closure located between the side of the hopper and the Wiper bar on the opposite side of the latter to the guide block.

2. A device for the quantitative dispersion of seeds comprising in combination a hopper, a spindle rotatably carried in bearings in each side of said hopper, a wheel mounted upon said spindle having a V-shaped groove around its periphery at the bottom of which is arranged a plurality of pockets at spaced intervals, each of said pockets being large enough to accommodate one but insufilciently large to accommodate two seeds, a wiper bar of the same width as the grooved wheel pivoted above said groove and havin a tapered end wholly complementary to the V-groove which is disposed tangentially to and makes resilient contact with said groove and a pocket closure to retain the selected seed within each pocket until the latter reaches its lowest point of travel within the hopper.

ALLAN GEORGE STEVENS. ADA EMILY STEVENS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 9, 139 Colver Dec. 7, 1852 97,938 Loweth et a1 Dec. 14 1869 157,342 Miller Dec. 1, 1874 200,286 Harbin Feb. 12, 1878 260,315 Parry June 27, 1382 451,761 Howland May 5, 1891 982,018 Patric Jan. 1'7, 1911 1,997,791 Hoberg et al Apr. 16, 1935 

